Overall, every heart attack costs the health system an average of $281,000, while every ‘chest pain episode’ costs an average of $74,000. Continue reading →

Earlier this year the Australian Government announced its first recommendations for physical activity specifically targeting Australians 60 and older. Because Australia now has one of the longest life expectancies in the world it is more important than ever to keep our ageing population healthy and mobile for as long as possible, and research has clarified how to. Continue reading →

Recent studies by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have revealed that people under the age of 25 who take antidepressants have a higher risk of suicide. Continue reading →

HIV/AIDS has now been around for 3 decades, and worldwide there are over 40 million people infected with the virus. Most of them live in sub-Saharan Africa, and now for the first time more than half of them are women and girls. And in youth under age 24 women make up two thirds of those who have HIV/AIDS. Continue reading →

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) the first week of August every year is marked as World Breastfeeding Week in over 120 countries. This attention to a natural function is designed to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of … Continue reading →

Despite the economic downturn over the past year or two most of us know that we will not be facing any trouble with continuing to eat properly, and probably find it surprising that many of our neighbours in New South Wales may have such a problem. But study after study has proven that to be the case. Continue reading →

Recent hospital-based studies in the USA have revealed that almost ¾ of all patients’ rooms are contaminated with the deadly methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and 69% with vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE). In Australia the infection rate of hospitals is not made public, but the Australian Medical Association has called for such information to be made widely available. Continue reading →

The Dry July Challenge started last year as a local fundraiser for the Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick, and the 1000 participants were able to raise over $250,000. It was so much fun, and such a popular idea, that this year the Dry July Challenge has gone national, and the funds raised will be distributed within each state to specific research organisations. Here in New South Wales it will still be the Prince of Wales Hospital, where it all began. Continue reading →

Our readers may have read earlier this week the newspaper reports about the former NSW Premier, Mr Morris Iemma, now being paralysed in his legs and attending physiotherapy in the attempt to get feeling and function back after being laid low by a severe case of encephalitis. Continue reading →

Dr Marc Hamilton is a professor of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Missouri in the USA. His research team discovered in 2007 the reason so many adults are overweight, and are developing heart disease and diabetes at such an alarming rate, is that body fat does not burn when the human body is seated. Continue reading →